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dionsaur's review
adventurous
dark
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Sexual content, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Death of parent and Terminal illness
Minor: Child abuse
lprongs's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Thank you to the publisher and Libro.fm for physical and audio ARCs!
This is my first Callender book, but I'm a big fantasy fan. It ended up being pretty strong, but there were a few awkward moments - the beginning felt particularly tropey and immature, and the magic system had some repetitive explanations, but it came into itself as a story by the end. The ending did feel a bit... convenient. There were a lot of deus ex machina moments around the climax, but it was still enjoyable.
The audio production felt clunky, and I'm not sure if that'll change before release (probably not since it releases this week). I could tell pretty easily when different recording sessions were spliced together, often just a single line sounding out of place. And sometimes the tone register felt a bit off. Also not super sure about the main villains having accents when no one else does? Especially the one who has what I think is an Irish accent when this is basically set in Britain. But that's probably not Callender's choice.
It has amazing rep. A good poly enemies to lovers triangle (although it takes them AGES to think of a poly solution), a genderfluid person who literally switches sex basically everytime you see them, a transmasc MC, and everyone (even the villains) are cool with pronouns! It is spicier than expected, but still appropriately YA - just kissing and teasing and fade-to-blacks. Nothing explicit to put this ace reader off. I will say that the spice felt a bit older than the rest of the book, but maybe that's just because I'm ace. The MC sure does fall in love easily though - I definitely rolled my eyes when he immediately felt attraction for the second person for the second time in like two weeks.
This is my first Callender book, but I'm a big fantasy fan. It ended up being pretty strong, but there were a few awkward moments - the beginning felt particularly tropey and immature, and the magic system had some repetitive explanations, but it came into itself as a story by the end. The ending did feel a bit... convenient. There were a lot of deus ex machina moments around the climax, but it was still enjoyable.
The audio production felt clunky, and I'm not sure if that'll change before release (probably not since it releases this week). I could tell pretty easily when different recording sessions were spliced together, often just a single line sounding out of place. And sometimes the tone register felt a bit off. Also not super sure about the main villains having accents when no one else does? Especially the one who has what I think is an Irish accent when this is basically set in Britain. But that's probably not Callender's choice.
It has amazing rep. A good poly enemies to lovers triangle (although it takes them AGES to think of a poly solution), a genderfluid person who literally switches sex basically everytime you see them, a transmasc MC, and everyone (even the villains) are cool with pronouns! It is spicier than expected, but still appropriately YA - just kissing and teasing and fade-to-blacks. Nothing explicit to put this ace reader off. I will say that the spice felt a bit older than the rest of the book, but maybe that's just because I'm ace. The MC sure does fall in love easily though - I definitely rolled my eyes when he immediately felt attraction for the second person for the second time in like two weeks.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Dysphoria, and Classism
Minor: Animal death and Terminal illness
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